Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Preparation

My canoe trip to the wilderness next week is the focus of my efforts lately. I'm testing and collecting and sorting my survival gear acquired over the past 25 years to select the best package to take along. Which knives ... which fire starting gear ... which food ... etc., etc. ?

The pemmican I made tastes good, and the hardtack is quite edible with peanut butter. I have some dried fruit, too, for the fish fries I've been assured will occur. Of course, though, I'll be taking some backup food if the fish don't leap onto the hooks of "les pêcheurs" aka the fishermen.

I've always kept a stockpile of MREs for food in case of civil strife or whatever, so I decided to actually eat some today. Mine are about five years old, as I re-stock my supplies every decade. That will let me test their edibility and their heaters - I've never actually eaten or used the heaters to heat the food. Sooooooo ...

For breakfast I'm having the MRE named, "egg omelet with cheese and vegetables". For lunch it will be the "chicken fajita filling" and "shredded potatoes with bacon". I'll also try the other items in the MRE: crackers, dried beverage, etc.

I'll post some "PS" items later as I do this today.

PS: The "egg omelet with cheese and vegetables" was quite edible and tasted OK with a reasonable texture. I'd describe it as a class below the old airline food. Rather than use a heater on my first try, I boiled the pouch for five minutes, which was adequate, but I think six or seven would be better. The pouch required a knife to cut open.

PPS: Just finished the MRE lunch - I thought it was quite good; as good as airline food or better. Lunch was chicken fajita filling (white meat), shredded potatoes with bacon & pineapple pound cake. All very tasty. The heater worked a bit less than the label suggested. I let it heat 15 minutes, but I think a few more would have helped. The food was just warm.

I also had the instant coffee mid-morning. Perfectly good.

Overall, these MREs are a fine source for food on the trail, during civil strife or after a comet hits

Actions

Europe and US futures are down about 1%. Maybe "they" will knock stocks down enough to give me some low risk re-buys. Waiting ...

Word of the Day

"Palatine" - noun & adjective [$10]
Palatine means 1. high officer of an imperial palace; 2. a feudal lord or official exercising sovereign authority over his lands or region (which would be the 'palatinate'); 3. a title of various administrative officials of the late Roman and Byzantine empires. [The term is often seen in writings about Germany, central and eastern Europe in the middle ages.]
Sentence: Why do so many CEOs think of themselves as a palatine and not as working for shareholders ? The problem arises from weak boards of directors and SEC rules the keep them weak.

Le Mot du Jour

"Qui-vive" - noun, masculine, invariant
Qui-vive is mainly used in expressions: être sur le qui-vive.
La Phrase: Soyez sur le qui-vive !
Sentence: Be prepared ! ... or ... Be on the alert !

60 comments:

Bud said...

does bob pisani read this blog ???

several times yday he called the market action 'ping-pong trading'

Bud said...

Bman can a stock market crash in china torpedoe a stcok market and economic recovery in US ??


decoupling indeed

Bud said...

Bman is doug kass a beefer ??

Bunkerman said...

No, but it could slow it down.

As I said before, coupling &/ decoupling is not binary action.

If you know some higher mathematics or quantum mechanics, it's more like a linear combination of two state vectors, with a moderately time variable coupling constant.

I suppose that's asking a bit much, though.

In a simnpler metaphor, it's a changing blend.

Bunkerman said...

I'd guess P{isani does read this blog. Cramer probably put him onto it. ;)

Bunkerman said...

yes, of course, Kass is a beefer.

Bunkerman said...

here's a new variant of "Is the Pope Catholic?"

Do they raise hogs in Iowa ?

Bud said...

or


is the SEC in the pockets of beefers ?

Bunkerman said...

Hmm yes, as long as "beefer" is generalized to include the Street.

Frosty said...

bunky dip buyers gappa down burn round two...tommmmyyyyhawk to the bear skull may get ya killed this week, you suffering from chronic buck fever and all.

Bunkerman said...

no buck fever yet ... have bought nothing.

Still waiting.

950 is beckoning.

Frosty said...

dow dogs VZ T MCD XOM CVX...know you will scoff at the notion, but Mrs B knows better, she is the best.

Bunkerman said...

true, she was thinking about T; has XOM, MCD, VZ already. She prefers more XOM to adding CVX.

Frosty said...

Freeport-McMoran added to Conviction Buy List at GS...I know you luv the super beefer top picks...fire away.

Frosty said...

momomo reaching for biowreck specs right out of the gate, hardly real buyers...Bunky, you can go "practice packing"...nothing to see here.

Bud said...

does mark haines read this blog ??

he calls leveraged etf's 'gambling'

mfl59 said...

does Jim Cramer read this blog?

He said the SPX will reach new highs in less than 2 years...

Bunkerman said...

of course this blog has many prominent .. and infamous ... readers.

Bunkerman said...

my, my GS is sooo smart ... didn't like FCX at 20, now they like it. Such a "quality" firm.

Bud said...

huh?? GS not allowed to change it's mind ?? the stock market is dynamic............facts change every day


PS......i didn't like FUQI at 5.......and i loved it at 18

Bud said...

Bman do you think GS's clients are not making money ??


i am pretty sure they are happy with their returns............if GS clients weren't making money..........GS wud have no clients

Frosty said...

Bunky...the yeild curve flattening out here...how can these moron bond investors have it so wrong...thought they were the smart money.

Frosty said...

"i didn't like FUQI at 5.......and i loved it at 18"...allow me translate bunky...FUQI I had no idea of it's existence at 5, jim mentioned at 18 so I blindly tossed $ at it....inwestor HOF, here I come.

mfl59 said...

Spin how many times will the Rutgers defense sack your hero Greg Paulus?

Bud lock in Rutgers plus 6 at home against Cincinnati on Labor Day...are you serious???? noone...and i mean noone...comes to the banks of the Raritan and walks away a winner...not anymore...

mfl59 said...

'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the
history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as
we try to change it.' -- Barack Obama

Bunkerman said...

Barry not making much sense ... La Grande Boucher

Just a sales pitch for him, what a knave.

Bunkerman said...

not sure who's buying Treasuries ... big bucks are going to corporates, I know.

some of this is pent up demand since they didn't want them at better prices last year.

diverted commercial mortgage money may be part of the flow

Bunkerman said...

with gov't expliciitly guaranting Freddie & Fannie, it's got to mess up portfolios bigtime.

Bud said...

listen you f'ng prick

when have i claimed to be a market 'expert' or 'stock picker'.........i am merely a ping-pong player.........remote control tells me what to do.......i follow along..........remember.......i am ....uhhhh.......'not too bright'


what a f'ng douchebag...........frosty really pisses me off


phlegmatic indeed

Bud said...

WNC


'nailed it' 'high five'


let's see now.....looks like about 40 cents on this go round........man this is getting 'tedious'


danke vielmals jim !!!!!!!!!

Frosty said...

dow dogs leadeing the charge...well played Mrs B, your the best.

Bud said...

FCX sweet


thank you goldman !!!

looks like 2 extra toppings on my pizza tonite......large coke too


pirhana's my ass

Frosty said...

"frosty really pisses me off
"...sorry Sal...I'll call off the dogs.

Bunkerman said...

Finished the MRE lunch - wrote a PPS for the blog.

Overall, very good.

Of course, being a common man with (mostly) simple tastes, I suppose it's no surprise I liked them.

Bunkerman said...

FCX ... hmmm ... Fido Fund has 40+ point gain.

Sure takes a lot of 40 centers to match that.

:)

Bud said...

simple tastes ????


yeah...........vacations in czechoslavakia and scotland.......$600 suites...........gold plated hummer..........18th century samurai sword collection .........lunch at the harvard club


common man indeed

Bunkerman said...

my sword collection is for all the world, but is moslty replicas.

The room in Prague was $800/night. Ditto Edinburgh. Ditto Rome. London was cheaper - maybe the pound.

The Hummer is armor-plated (joke).

But the cufflinks are solid gold - I had them custom made..

Bunkerman said...

After reading about true epicureanism, I realized that's me.

Mostly simple, ascetic tastes, but some very fine tastes, too, for pleasure.

Spam ... and ... $500/bottle Scotch

A true epicurean

;)

Bunkerman said...

btw, I'm taking some of the finest Courvoirsier VSOP Cognac in a flask on the canoe trip.

Frosty said...

Bunky...pigsharkfolio down on the year...how are you doing?

Bunkerman said...

Obama Fund is up about 33% ytd

Fido up more.

Frosty said...

couple of cases of buck fever, some panic sales and still crushing it.

danke vielmals Bunky !!!!!!!!!

Bud said...

wtf is the sharkfolio ??? i don't even know what that is.....i have never ever ever even looked at it...is that what you guys measure yourselff against ???? lame


pierdol sie bob !!!!!


PS.....still wanna be friends ?????

mfl59 said...

Bud do you bleed Scarlet Knight red son?

Bunkerman said...

Your hero pitches that sharkfolio to the common man.

sigh ... no comment.

Bud said...

i know for a fact that no one here bleeds scarlett knight red........oh yeah.........we have someone who 'claims' to bleed that


but he bleeds yankee navy..........f'ng disgusting.......deserter .....traitor.......benedict arnold....really really irks me........go to hell ace !!!!


phlegmatic indeed

mfl59 said...

lmaooooooo

"Take us home ARod"

"Way to go Spin...lets play 2"

Bunkerman said...

Scarlett Knights ?

Isn't that the team from New Jersey State ?

If you want red, go for Ohio State .. or even Harvard (crimson)

Spin-em said...

Bunk...you dont plan to walk around the woods Putin-like(no shirt..army pants) do you?...with a smug.....yes..I can kill that Tiger..I mean bear with a single Tomahawk toss. anyone want to go after me with the painted rubber knife???......I DI-NNNT THINK SOOO

Bud said...

EDAP


'nailed it' 'highfive'


it's a biotech right ?? i think so........but it could be jet fuel.......i'm not sure......ya'know......since i'm .....uhhhh......'not too bright'


danke vielmals jim !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bud said...

" Hey bob i wonder if bud is makin money today ? "


'act as if' son

Bud said...

" Hey sal...........are you gonna celebrate every winner.......are you jump up and down every time you make 2 dimes? "


"yes i am........cuz i'm a 'tedious' motherfucker "

Frosty said...

Bunky...corporate bonds aren't participating in this rally....perhaps GS should put them on the conviction buy list...with china down 20% and chink pig farmers hoarding copper, FCX conviction buy on wed ops expo seems about right.

Bud said...

listen dude

i don't wanna hurt your feelings............but nobody gives an F about your stupid ops expo garbage.......and i mean nobody



PS.....still wanna be friends ???

Bud said...

oh wait

did i hurt bob's feelings??................good.............f'ng douchebag


PS....still wanna be friends ???

mfl59 said...

looks like its amateur hour indeed over in la acquarium...a gap down tomorrow should send half the members into tears....

"Hey Chief, what does your timing guy say?"

"He said I was the biggest douche east of the Mississippi"

Spin-em said...

lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo maybe the Rockies

Bunkerman said...

uh spin, I was joking

didn't you catch my Bman = Tarzan joke ?

I'm in a group & it's a National Park in Canada - no firearms allowed.

We camp on islands - yeah, I know beara can swim.

Anyway, safety in numbers.

No grizzlys, btw.

Bunkerman said...

the rangers do shoot the bears who get "familiar" with the people.

Spin-em said...

uh bunk....mine was in jest as well.....it was more about the Putin footage than you but..."sorry"...handshake...lol